Excalibur Sport Horses

02/04/2025

Won’t you join us for our annual Horse Poker Rally
Saddle horses are welcome to join us too
Hope to see you all there 🐴

02/02/2025

This up and down weather. Wet, snowy, temperature drops and WIND has been hard on my Fuzzy (IL Filou). He got a blanket today. The rest are all toasty, but for some reason Fuzzy is shivering. The other boys spent quite a bit of time checking out this blanket. Not a very familiar sight at my place

01/29/2025

With the news that all Peavy Marts will be closing, please let us know if there are any products that you need. Chances are, we already carry it but happy to help make sure your animals have what they need or special order anything we might be missing!

01/28/2025

These coming three year olds are so playful. It is fun to see them goofing off.

01/28/2025

01/28/2025

Poppet went to her new home this afternoon. Her new family is so happy.
I can't wait to see how she progresses.
She is so cute!

01/24/2025

My little Doonie got to meet the amazing ladies at MorEnergy Veterinary Services Ltd. today. He is, now, gelded and once he is healed up, we can move on to getting a harness to fit him.

01/20/2025

Can't wait

Save the date!

We are hosting our sleigh rally again this year! Teams and saddle horses welcome.

After the sleigh ride we will have supper and door prizes.

For more info please contact Lorne Charles or Pam Skoog

01/20/2025

Love this!

To the owner whose horse lives out - your horse is fortunate to have an owner that can provide them the space to roam and graze as nature intended!

To the owner who rugs their horse - they will be so warm and cozy under their blanket, and less grooming means more time to ride!

To the owner of the unrugged horse - their coats are fascinating how they adapt to the weather, aren’t they?!

To the rider who wears cheap riding leggings and rubber boots – good for you…. you know that your horse couldn’t care less what you are wearing!

To the ‘all the gear and no idea’ rider - wow! You look incredible, your horse has everything it could ever wish for! You don’t have to be a grand prix rider to wear matchy-matchy. Go, you!

To the rider who rides once in a while – brilliant! It is so difficult to fit horses in around the rest of our lives. It’s great that you make the time to do the most that you can with your horse!

To the rider who never rides their horse – no problem. How lovely for your horse to spend its life being cuddled, groomed and grazing in the fields, you must have a wonderful relationship!

To the rider who rides everyday – go for it! Your dedication is admirable and your horse is benefiting from training and fitness. Well done!

To the happy hackers - you are living the dream of millions! What an honour to share such adventures with such extraordinary animals!

To the barefoot fanatic – I admire your passion. Barefoot is the best option for many horses. It is wonderful that you are trying to improve your horse’s comfort and foot health!

To the rider who trains with every professional and expert going – brilliant. What a wealth of knowledge and expertise you have access to!

To the self-taught rider – you must be so proud. What an achievement!

To the professional rider – you inspire me. Your results and rosettes are impressive. They are not won without hard work, commitment, sacrifice and talent. You deserve your success!

To the rider who has never won anything – who cares?! Your horse doesn’t! The passion you have for your sport is worth so much more than any material!

If you want to win and have not had any luck – keep going. You will get there eventually. The hardest won successes are the sweetest!

To the owner who keeps their horse spotlessly clean, neatly trimmed and pulled – marvellous! I applaud your attention to detail. Your horse looks beautiful!

To the owner whose horse is caked in mud and has dread locks – I laugh with you! You know that horses love to roll and if you were to bath your horse today, you would find them in exactly the same mucky state again tomorrow!

As long as your horse is happy and healthy, what you do with your horse is nobody else’s business. The only time anybody should interfere is if there is a genuine equine welfare issue, a safety issue, or if you have specifically asked for advice or help. Otherwise, please let’s not judge others.

‘Each to their own,’ and if it’s good for your horse then ‘good for you!’ 🐴❤️

*Taken from another page Trina's cobs*

01/18/2025

This is so true. A number of years ago, I watched the process with a loss of a mare and how the herd processed it. It was an amazing observation.
Once they realised the mare was gone, they all sniffed her, breathed in the air and walked off.
This is true for dogs, cats, cows, etc.

Equines and losing their herd mates.
Most equines don’t process death in the same way we do, but its important to understand how they look at it.
Firstly its they way they understand it, they can watch it but it does not mean much, it’s the smell that tells them. So horses should be allowed to smell their departed friend, this is two part, firstly its for them to work out they have died, second part is they will be smelling for adrenalin and endorphins. Generally animals don’t fear death but they fear pain and the process of dying, which if most people are honest is the same for us, most people don’t fear death it’s the getting there, when its your time most people just hope its instant or they go in their sleep, animals are often the same.
You can put a horse down with another one watching and they will often finish their bucket of food before they go to investigate why their mate is laying down. Then they smell a lot around the dead one and if there is no adrenalin or endorphins then they died quickly and were not attacked, so nothing to worry about, even though they saw it the nose overrides all other senses, (hence why horses dislike the wind, stops them smelling in one direction)
So how do we help the horses, ponies etc accept the death of a herd member.
Time is the most important thing, giving them long enough to investigate.
The best thing is to put down the horse in an area that’s safe to let their heard mates into afterwards loose.
This is because some horses run “tests” to check they are dead, this will involve walking in arcs up to them, running away in short bursts (trying to get a flight response) grazing next to dead ones head, pawing with hooves, sometimes biting. If there is some blood they will often put on their nose or taste it, again checking for adrenalin or endorphins to ensure that they are safe and it was not a lion hiding in hedge that killed it. They will then walk away grazing and return about 3 times, after this they accept it and just walk away.
The time it takes varies on the position in herd of the one that’s dies, (one that has been pushed out of herd due to being ill the others will only take 20min to accept as they were expecting it, on other hand if it’s the leader of herd that unexpectedly died, accident etc, it takes far longer as no one is giving instructions so the upset is 2 fold this might take a hour and a half to accept whilst sniffing)
Also the breed is big factor, Shetland ponies for example only take a few minutes (they appear hard and uncaring often due to this) where a thoroughbred or Arab takes on average 45min to accept.
Leading a horse up to dead one tends to slow process down or sometimes they don’t understand at all as they will try to feed of body language of the one who’s leading them and we are not good at horse body language. If there is no choice due to are its still better then not showing them at all but its best done with long lead rope and keeping it as loose as possible to allow the horse to jump around as remember this is partly how they work it out.
The more horses in the herd the quicker they will figure out that’s one died but its nothing to worry about as they will look to each other.
Some special cases, donkeys are terrible at being so attached they one died they will pine to death, so they need another animal for company when their mate goes and we find they should have a least 12 hours with their deceased friend, this is why when we put down donkeys we recommend they we put it down one day and we will come back next day to collect, even trough this means 2 trips.
Mares when they lose their foals (or if foal pts ) again if we have put foal down and you are not going to foster mother then its best to do it and leave foal in stable for example where mother has free access, it can take her up to 48hr to realize her foal is dead and not just sleeping at which time she will bury it and its then safe to remove it without causing any upset.
All of this is why we allow at least a hour and a half for every horse we are putting down but are prepared to wait even longer if needed, 2 part it ensure the euthanasia is never rushed so we can ensure its instant and best as it can be but also the grieving process is vital to any other horse that are part of hear if they were attached. And the more time they have with their field mate who passed on the better.
If you have very closely bonded herd I’m always happy to discuss what’s the best way not only for the one who’s going but also for what’s best for their companions.
This photo shows a group of horses checking out their sadly deceased field mate, no stress just working it out and accepting it.

*edit*
I will add that the times I have said are different horse to horse and it's the time it takes them to normally understand the their friend has died and not just injured or sleeping.
Once they accept this they will then start to greve, like people some horses will take a few hour, some a few days and some a couple of weeks to get over a major change to their herd. But it's much better when they know what's happening to the other option my friend is missing and they will keep looking sometimes for months..

01/13/2025

Well, I guess the boys are fine with the new boy.
I was able to get a halter on him. That took a while, but I have the time.

01/12/2025

Update...he survived the night.
I went and picked up a pony today.
The highways were challenging, to say the least. I hate black ice. Raining on the hwy and the temp sitting around zero, sucks.

2hr-40min drive to get there took 4 hours. Left home at 8:30 and got home at 5:30. Luckily, everyone was driving sensibly. The sanding trucks were plentiful.
Only one person passed me like an idiot. Then, promptly hit black ice and hit the ditch.
The little guy will stay in the trailer overnight. He has hay and water and bedding and I will be able to deal with him in the daylight tomorrow. Not halter broke and he will be three this year. So he is the same age as my little Poppet and he is the same size. He still has his berries, but those will be taken care of soon, as well

He is a Blue Roan. I always liked a blue roan and this is my first.

01/11/2025

My little Poppet.
It was farrier day and I thought I would video how great she is to catch, stand tied, trying to be a good girl for the farrier and then running like a typical three year old through the trees.
She is for sale

Farrier day. Poppet is easy to catch, pretty good for the farrier. Smart and is a treat to be around.